Credit Card Hold?

[minikiss]

Just had this happen to me while pre paying the grats!

I paid with a debit card which has gone through and the "hold" is still there.

It almost took me over drawn and sucked up all the cash I was going to use to Gift Credit myself.

I have NEVER had this happen with anything so i'm really annoyed that they have done it without warning.

I have read on here they do it with Debit cards when they are used for the on board account, but would not expect it for things pre paid.

Sorry but is it legal here in the UK?

I don't own a CC so the debit was the only option. Our Own board account is linked to my husbands C. card which is only used on emergencies and holidays so would never have used that to pay it.

I'm now questioning what will happen when I put the Gift Credit through will they do it again!!!

I've called them to complain and i'm waiting to be called back as I very annoyed, I now have limited funds to get me by till they "give me back what they had no right to take in the first place"

[wickedwitchofthewest]

Just had this happen to me while pre paying the grats!

I paid with a debit card which has gone through and the "hold" is still there.

It almost took me over drawn and sucked up all the cash I was going to use to Gift Credit myself.

I have NEVER had this happen with anything so i'm really annoyed that they have done it without warning.

I have read on here they do it with Debit cards when they are used for the on board account, but would not expect it for things pre paid.

Sorry but is it legal here in the UK?

I don't own a CC so the debit was the only option. Our Own board account is linked to my husbands C. card which is only used on emergencies and holidays so would never have used that to pay it.

I'm now questioning what will happen when I put the Gift Credit through will they do it again!!!

I've called them to complain and i'm waiting to be called back as I very annoyed, I now have limited funds to get me by till they "give me back what they had no right to take in the first place"

 

Don't worry - if you bought yourself credit you have already paid for it.

All you will get is a coupon in your cabin (usually your room steward will give it to you) showing how much you have been credited with. It will automatically appear on your on-board account. No need for you to 'put through' anything. No more money will be taken unless you spend more than you have gifted yourself.

[minikiss]

Don't worry - if you bought yourself credit you have already paid for it.

All you will get is a coupon in your cabin (usually your room steward will give it to you) showing how much you have been credited with. It will automatically appear on your on-board account. No need for you to 'put through' anything. No more money will be taken unless you spend more than you have gifted yourself.

 

No I was wondering if I gifted £200 to the account before I leave would Princess take that plus put on hold another £200 at the same time. In effect take £400 rather than the £200 I authorised them to.

That's what they did when I pre paid the tips a few days ago.

It has left me with little funds left and now I have to borrow money to pay for the groceries tonight.

I am beginning to doubt they plan on putting it right today as they still have not called me back.

[Colo Cruiser]

With all the issues being reported about pre paying anything why would anyone want to deal with that. With the debit card issues, holds/ things not being ready/delivered onboard as promised. Not worth the headache. :rolleyes:

 

#1 don't use a debit card. ;)

[emmak8]

The holds have never been a problem. I wouldn't worry. We do not pay anything in advance. Gratuities? NO. Excursions? NEVER. What is the benefit?

[Colo Cruiser]

The holds have never been a problem. I wouldn't worry. We do not pay anything in advance. Gratuities? NO. Excursions? NEVER. What is the benefit?

 

 

I agree, but as noted here in this thread holds freak some people out.

[wickedwitchofthewest]

The holds have never been a problem. I wouldn't worry. We do not pay anything in advance. Gratuities? NO. Excursions? NEVER. What is the benefit?

Benefit is a better exchange rate - can mean substantial extra spending cash

[wickedwitchofthewest]

No I was wondering if I gifted £200 to the account before I leave would Princess take that plus put on hold another £200 at the same time. In effect take £400 rather than the £200 I authorised them to.

That's what they did when I pre paid the tips a few days ago.

It has left me with little funds left and now I have to borrow money to pay for the groceries tonight.

I am beginning to doubt they plan on putting it right today as they still have not called me back.

Think somehow princess screwed up. I've never known then take payment for purchasing obc and also put on a hold. Something went wrong here - not usually what happens.

[emeybee]

Think somehow princess screwed up. I've never known then take payment for purchasing obc and also put on a hold. Something went wrong here - not usually what happens.

 

That just happened to me. I bought onboard credit through Princess.com. When I purchased it, they put a hold for the total amount, and then a few days later they processed the actual transaction, so it was effectively taken out of my account twice. With a credit card you'd never notice, but with a debit card that you use to pay your bills, it can cause huge problems.

 

In my case, they called my bank and released the hold and then gave me a $50 "courtesy credit" for the trouble, so for me it is resolved. That said, they need to find a better way to process cards. Not everyone likes to pay for things on credit, and not everyone is wealthy enough that several hundred dollars being double charged, even temporarily, isn't a huge inconvenience.

 

I have been paying for things online for a decade now, and Princess is the only company that has double-charged me like this. They need to update their payment processing methods. There is no reason the full amount needs to be authorized twice. Most companies that need to do two stage authorization only charge $1 for the first step.

Edited August 7, 2015 by emeybee

[wickedwitchofthewest]

I've made purchases every month for about six months prior to each of my last three cruises and they've never put a hold on just processed my debit card for the purchase.

[eldridchapman]

Not sure if this is specific to passengers from certain markets/regions. I checked with my TA about this issue before my first cruise with Princess last year and they said no hold of any sort would be imposed by princess.

 

On a side note, one day during the voyage we received a voice mail from billings counter that they had problems charging a card used for the onboard account. They phoned the bank and we authenticated only to find that no such charges were denied on their end. Not sure if this issue is related to this hold

[RDC1]

That just happened to me. I bought onboard credit through Princess.com. When I purchased it, they put a hold for the total amount, and then a few days later they processed the actual transaction, so it was effectively taken out of my account twice. With a credit card you'd never notice, but with a debit card that you use to pay your bills, it can cause huge problems.

 

In my case, they called my bank and released the hold and then gave me a $50 "courtesy credit" for the trouble, so for me it is resolved. That said, they need to find a better way to process cards. Not everyone likes to pay for things on credit, and not everyone is wealthy enough that several hundred dollars being double charged, even temporarily, isn't a huge inconvenience.

 

I have been paying for things online for a decade now, and Princess is the only company that has double-charged me like this. They need to update their payment processing methods. There is no reason the full amount needs to be authorized twice. Most companies that need to do two stage authorization only charge $1 for the first step.

 

Just to be clear it is not a double charge. The money on hold never leaves your account, it is merely placed in a status where it cannot be removed or used (including for another hold) while the hold remains on. The duration is a function of bank/processing facility policy. It is there policy about how long a hold will remain, if it is not cleared by a matching funds removal transaction.

[emeybee]

Just to be clear it is not a double charge. The money on hold never leaves your account, it is merely placed in a status where it cannot be removed or used (including for another hold) while the hold remains on. The duration is a function of bank/processing facility policy. It is there policy about how long a hold will remain, if it is not cleared by a matching funds removal transaction.

 

I am aware of how it works. I thought I had made it pretty clear in my first paragraph that I knew it was an authorization and not a full charge. That doesn't change the fact that I was effectively double charged, as the money was removed from my available balance. Whether the money is literally gone, or effectively gone makes very little difference when I need to pay my rent.

 

And I am aware that every bank is different, and that some banks keep holds longer than others. That is not the issue in this case. The issue is that Princess is authorizing the charge twice, instead of authorizing once and then processing the payment on that same authorization. That is how most companies handle payments. There are other companies that do it Princess' way, in two stages, but generally those companies charge $1 for the first authorization (to check the card's validity) and then process the full authorization later. Princess is the only company I have experienced that authorizes the full amount twice. It is unnecessary and incredibly inconvenient.

 

As I said, I am satisfied with how it was resolved in my case, but that doesn't mean that Princess shouldn't change their processing methods to eliminate the hassle. I shouldn't have to call them and spend several hours waiting for them to resolve it with my bank; they should process the charges correctly in the first place.

[SteerageJack]

With all the issues being reported about pre paying anything why would anyone want to deal with that. With the debit card issues, holds/ things not being ready/delivered onboard as promised. Not worth the headache. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

#1 don't use a debit card. ;)

 

 

You make an excellent point. We cancelled our debit cards after we realized how little we used them. We got our bank to give us an ATM only card. We use our CC for most everything else.

 

What people don't realize is that criminals can empty your bank account if they have your debit card number. No PIN needed. Even though the bank will give your money back, it may take a week or ten days to show up. For many people that can be a crisis.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Crabby_Cruiser]

If I've already pre-paid the gratuities, will I still see a daily $24 "charge" on my credit card or is this actually a charge on the cruise account, which zeroes out at the end of the cruise?

 

I'm only asking because I paid for my MIL/FIL's cruise and paid their gratuities but they will be registering on board with their own credit card. I just don't want them to have a heart attack if they see a daily charge on their card. I'd like to be able to warn them ahead of time if this is the case. Thank you.

[Pierlesscruisers]

If I've already pre-paid the gratuities, will I still see a daily $24 "charge" on my credit card or is this actually a charge on the cruise account, which zeroes out at the end of the cruise?

 

I'm only asking because I paid for my MIL/FIL's cruise and paid their gratuities but they will be registering on board with their own credit card. I just don't want them to have a heart attack if they see a daily charge on their card. I'd like to be able to warn them ahead of time if this is the case. Thank you.

 

If I'm understanding your question correctly, yes, the daily charge of $12/person will appear on your MIL/FIL's daily statement whether you have prepaid it or not. If I remember correctly, the advanced payments appear on the daily summary as a positive number and all charges, purchases, etc. appear as negative numbers with the net balance (either pos. or neg.) of the account as of midnight being the last (bottom) number on the statement. So if they've made any purchases on board and you've prepaid their gratuities, the amount they owe at the end of the cruise will be negative and that is the amount that will be charged to their own credit card. (e.g. total amount they charged + daily charges - prepaid amount)

 

Hope I explained this clearly.

 

Tom

[Crabby_Cruiser]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, yes, the daily charge of $12/person will appear on your MIL/FIL's daily statement whether you have prepaid it or not. If I remember correctly, the advanced payments appear on the daily summary as a positive number and all charges, purchases, etc. appear as negative numbers with the net balance (either pos. or neg.) of the account as of midnight being the last (bottom) number on the statement. So if they've made any purchases on board and you've prepaid their gratuities, the amount they owe at the end of the cruise will be negative and that is the amount that will be charged to their own credit card. (e.g. total amount they charged + daily charges - prepaid amount)

 

Hope I explained this clearly.

 

Tom

 

Yes, you answered it perfectly. Thank you so much!

[Pierlesscruisers]

Yes, you answered it perfectly. Thank you so much!

 

You're very welcome. Glad I was able to help.

 

Tom

[Ethel5]

I wish that Princess would process the "pre-paid" stuff (gratuities, shore ex etc.) the way Carnival does-you never see it on you cabin port folio!